Frigid Phoenix
by anti-viper
Summary: Alex has spent much of his life using people, and while traveling to Venus Lighthouse finds that, after dismissing Mia and Imil so easily, he is hesitant to do the same to Jenna, whom he has taken a liking to. Of course, hesitancy is not the same as reluctance, and it certainly isn't the same as refusal.


_As much as I loved writing A Little Shot of Wildfire, it kind of came out of nowhere as I had definitely planned a Jenna/Alex, but had meant for it to be more of a multichap that bridged the entire series. So, uh, now there's this once I realized I still had the Jenna/Alex itch. It pretty much wrote itself, to be honest; more after the break._

* * *

**Chapter 1: An Unexpected Treaty **

Jenna sat on her (uncomfortable) log, surveying the make-shift camp site with distaste as she waited for the rest of the party to return. Getting kidnapped had not been enjoyable, nor had been discovering that her brother and parent's deaths were a lie. But camping out in a forest where humans were being turned into trees?

That really put the other hardships into perspective. Something about a Mars Adept being a tree just didn't work; probably the part where the use of your Psynergy could cause you to burn yourself to a crisp. Also, being a naturally fidgety person, Jenna couldn't imagine being trapped in that little form.

Saturos, who had been in an utterly vicious mood ever since his defeat at Mercury Lighthouse, knocking over those poor tree-people ("THIRSTY?" He had shouted. "HAVE SOME WATER!") into a river had only intensified her fears. She supposed she should put more time into worrying about the crazy Mars Adepts who were holding her captive, but it could be worse. At least Isaac and Garet were alive.

"Are you alright, Jenna?" Alex's voice cut into her thoughts, and she turned to see the Mercury Adept leaning against a tree, eyeing her with... actually, what appeared to be concern. Odd, considering it was Alex, and he was only supposed to be watching her. His appearing-out-of-nowhere-act had been good for getting her to jump early on, but by now she had grown used to it, and actually didn't think it was him being an asshole. He just had a knack for quiet entrances.

"Fine," She lied, having no interest in discussing her fears with Alex. While he definitely wasn't on her list of people that deserved to fall off a Lighthouse (Saturos+Menardi), she still didn't know what to think of him, and if he preferred it that way, fine. Jenna wasn't wide-eyed about figuring out who the Imillian was deep down. If there even was a deep down. At the least, she could at least have a conversation with him without being on the lookout for wayward fireballs.

"You don't have to lie to me, I'm not like them," Alex replied with a surprising amount of empathy. Jenna eyed him with curiosity, before shrugging.

"No, you're not, but I don't really know what to make of you, Alex." Jenna frowned. "I'm... well, obviously things for me aren't going great at the moment in general, but specifically the whole thing about people turning into trees..."

"Mmm. It goes without saying that's not a preferable way to go," Alex agreed, walking towards her. "But you shouldn't worry. Felix isn't going anywhere without you, and if you turn into a tree, it will more or less force Saturos and Menardi's hands."

"...You think they'd actually help if I turned into a tree?" Jenna asked, and Alex winced.

"Er... well, their methods could prove... unusual," Alex admitted, and it was Jenna's turn to wince. She could just picture it now: _"Perhaps we could burn the tree, and once the bark burned off Jenna would be free..." Saturos pondered, holding a flame in his outstretched hand. "No need to waste Psynergy: we'll just cut through with my Scythe," Menardi answered with gleeful malice._

Jenna shivered. "Please don't let them near me if I turn into a tree," She said, and Alex chuckled.

"I have a feeling we just imagined the same thing... on second thought, they probably wouldn't be well suited for that situation," Alex muttered. "But, on the bright side, I have a suspicion that our Psynergy protects us from transforming into gruesome bark statues."

"Yeah, I guess," Jenna replied half-heartedly, turning and assuming the conversation was over. However, a rustling of leaves alerted her to the fact that Alex was coming closer. "Yes?" She asked, and he halted.

Alex bit his lip, looking behind him before sighing and saying, "Jenna, you were never supposed to be a part of this. Kraden? Yes. But not you."

"No shit; sorry if my presence is bothering you, I'm not exactly thrilled to be here either," Jenna responded bluntly, and Alex coughed.

"My apologies, that was worded badly..." He began, folding his hands behind his back. "To be frank, for me, your presence is refreshing. While Saturos and Menardi respect me, the most endearing term I'd use to describe them would be 'associates', and while Felix and I have found a common bond, he is about as silent as the trees we've been discussing." Jenna raised an eyebrow, and nodded. Well, Alex enjoyed her company. That was something, though she still had no idea where he was going with this.

"You must have realized by now," Alex continued, seating himself next to her, much to her surprise. "That Felix has little to no bargaining when it comes to Saturos and Menardi... he is more or less at their mercy."

"But..." Jenna replied, feeling faint at the words Alex was saying and the uncommon severity he was saying them with, "Don't they need him for Venus Lighthouse?"

"Yes, they do," Alex replied, frowning. "Which is the second Lighthouse we will light... leaving Jupiter and Mars to go. Which require neither you nor Felix." Alex's pained expression said it all, and Jenna felt her jaw drop.

"N-No... they wouldn't," She said, more to herself than him. "They're cruel, but not that cruel... they promised. They said we'd go to our parents..."

"I know," Alex replied, placing his hand on her shoulder. "But after Venus, you both will be expendable to them. It would be easy for Saturos to claim you and Felix were ambushed and killed by a monster, and... while I don't think they would honestly be willing to do that just to speed up their return to Prox, they are on a tight time schedule, and I've learned not to test the apathy of the Northern Clan."

"Well... fuck," Jenna whispered, worst-case scenarios filling her mind, leaning into her knees. "And here I was, worried about being turned into a tree."

"Don't despair," Alex said sternly, his hand making its way to her shoulder. "Felix is unable to match them, as are you, but I am." Jenna whipped her head towards Alex, her mouth agape.

"You... I mean, I know you are powerful, but you would protect us if it came to that?" Jenna asked, amazed at Alex being so selfless.

"I would," Alex replied, looking straight ahead. "You see, unlike you and Felix, I chose to be a part of this. I've... lamented Felix's involvement, but have looked past it due to the need of a Venus Adept. But you should, by no means, be forced into this, and I'm sorry you are."

"That's... that's really sweet, Alex," Jenna said, smiling. "I kind of thought you were aloof. A decent guy, but I honestly didn't expect this out of you. If there's anything I can do..."

Alex winced, and Jenna frowned. "I don't... it's complicated." Jenna nodded, waiting to hear more. "I thought that leaving would be easy," Alex whispered, and Jenna could almost visibly see a barrier around the Mercury Adept fade. She placed her hand on his shoulder now, encouraging him on. "I thought I could abandon Imil, and be no worse for the wear. I thought I was above certain human needs... certain human... comforts."

Jenna's eyes widened, and suddenly she was VERY interested in whatever Alex said next. Up until now he had sounded sweet, but his definition of comfort was either going to lead to her continuing to be impressed by him or a black eye on his face.

"I took advantage of my relationship with Mia," Alex lamented, lowering his head. "I cared for her, but after more than a year away from her, and seeing her now... I haven't had an honest connection to another human in so long. But, I'm hesitant to ask you of this, as I am difficult to deal with..." Alex noticed Jenna's intense gaze, and cleared his throat. "Let me be clear, all I am asking is for you to talk to me. Nothing of a physical nature."

Jenna let out a breath of relief she hadn't realized she had been holding. That was the last thing she needed; getting forced into a relationship in order to ensure her protection from being incinerated. Just the thought made her shiver.

"I wouldn't mind that," Jenna replied with a smile. "That would be nice, actually... I've been getting a little lonely myself."

"I'm glad," Alex said in return, but then frowned. "However... we should hide this from the others. Felix might take it the wrong way (Jenna nodded while wincing), and Saturos and Menardi would no doubt be... skeptical, to say the least." Jenna nodded once more and Alex smiled. "So, for now we should depart. I will return to lurking in the trees, but perhaps... the next time we're alone?"

"Of course," Jenna whispered, rising as he did. "Um..." Throwing caution to the wind, Jenna wrapped her arms around Alex. "Thanks. Really... it means a lot to me."

Alex, after a moment on indecision, returned the embrace, parting it after a moment and smiling before teleporting back into the forest. Jenna sat back down upon her log, smiling, much more content with the day than she had been an hour ago; something she had never assumed would come out of a conversation with Alex.

* * *

Alex appeared in a row of trees, leaning against an oak and sighing. He had almost forgotten what human touch was like... and human kindness. It had been so easy with Mia, because he had never seen the look of pain once the betrayal occurred.

But with Jenna... he winced, shaking his head. He had held her in his hands, he could have anything he wanted from her. Her body, in particular. And he had... what? Asked to become chatting buddies? The hell?

There was no question that eventually his lust would grow past hearing her voice, as pretty as it was. He could just picture it now; the trust in her smile, the look in her eyes when she whispered how kind he was to her. He didn't want to hurt her, and already knew that he was going to. At the least, he could protect her from Saturos and Menardi. But who in the hell was going to protect Jenna from him?

* * *

_There's a really bad pun in here I hope someone got, because it fit perfectly and made me really, really happy. Uh, so you might have noticed that I put a Chapter 1 there next to the title. And unlike my previous multi-chaps that were posted though I had no intention of continually updating them (though, sadly, I guess that has become all of them...), this one isn't really planned out, so it may end up being a one shot for a long, long time. _

_I've actually had this done for awhile, but I kind of forgot about it/tried to argue with myself other things needed to get updated first. But hell, it was done, so why not? _

_Like I said, I don't know how this one is going to turn up, and have some ideas on actually making it a tragedy, because I never make sad-shipping fics... but, uh, my original goal for this fic was to make a Alex/Jenna that ended happily. So, to begin with I'm on different wave-lengths. Woohoo!_

_Anyway, the above chapter was such a dickish Alex thing to do: "Hey... need some protection? Wink wink." I'm utterly convinced some kind of failed (or successful) move on Jenna happened during the time he was with Saturos and Menardi, as she really, REALLY seems to want his blood in TLA. Playing with that element is going to be fun; Alex being guilty and unsure of how quick he can make a move. I think I'll trying alternating character perspectives per chapter; so this one was Jenna (mostly), and the next would be Alex. _

_I'd also like this fic to have shorter chapters, because the 10,000+ worded ones just burn me up. Editing becomes crap, they end up going off on weird tangents they weren't supposed to, and afterwards I just have no motivation to write for a month. Speaking of writing and months, how about the AGS delay! Yeah, that's getting updated soon, finally made some leeway on it (and it's looking to be a really long chapter... hurray for hypocrisy!)._

_I've honestly been ranting for the past few paragraphs trying to remember the one thing I really wanted to say, and it finally hit me: I can't tell if I despise this title more than anyone I've ever used (and trust me, I've had some pretty strong feelings about MTJATE and SD), or if I like it. It's super-Alexy: really vague. And the alliteration (I think it's alliteration...) is kind of nice. Eh. _

_I'll stop rambling; funny, I almost submitted this without an author's note. Might have been for the better, I haven't gone off this bad for awhile. Thanks for reading!(I think it's alliteration...) is kind of nice. Eh. _

_I'll stop rambling; funny, I almost submitted this without an author's note. Might have been for the better, I haven't gone off this bad for awhile. Thanks for reading!_


End file.
